Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Teamsters support campaign finance reform bill

Teamsters attended today's press conference about the Government
by the People Act.

The Teamsters today announced their support of a bill to curb the influence of sociopathic billionaires on elections through a public financing mechanism that multiplies small donations.

Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) filed the bill, which is backed by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. It would create a voluntary system of publicly financed House elections. The point is to increase the impact of small donors to outweigh the influence of billionaires like the Benedict Arnold Koch brothers.

Donations of up to $150 to congressional candidates would be matched at a rate of 6 to 1 — meaning a $50 check would turn into a $350 check. If candidates agreed to take only small donations, the match would increase to 9 to 1. Candidates who are able to raise more than $50,000 in small donations in the final 60 days of the election would be eligible for even more resources.

Most people who run for public office do so out of a sincere desire to help others and make a difference in their community and in our country. Many of us are deeply frustrated at the huge amounts of money it takes to run for office and the distorting effect money has on the functioning of government.

We know that if the role of money in our elections were reduced and the level of civility in our politics increased, the result would be the election of more women, more minorities, more young people and more people dedicated to serving the public interest, not special interests.

Most members of Congress would leap at the chance to fund their campaigns without having to turn to a familiar cast of big donors and entrenched interests. Today, that’s virtually impossible.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. We can and must break the grip of special interests on our politics. Those of us inside and outside the Capitol who support this kind of major change are rallying around H.R. 20, the Government by the People Act, which is to be introduced Wednesday.

Find out how you can help pass the Government by The People bill by going to the website here.